Ja Morant Calls Taylor Jenkins Firing 'Tough' amid NBA Rumors About 'Complaint'

Despite speculation that Ja Morant may have been unhappy with some of the developments under Taylor Jenkins, the Memphis Grizzlies star expressed how "tough" it was to see the previous head coach fired.

"It's tough for me," Morant said following Saturday's 134-127 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, per William Guillory of The Athletic. "I've had Coach Taylor since I got here. Everything I've done in a Grizzlies jersey has pretty much been under him. It's my first time really experiencing a coach leaving since I've been hooping. It was a lot to process. With the timing, it's just tough. We had to quickly turn the page."

Memphis fired Jenkins on Friday even though it is in playoff position in the Western Conference standings.

Interim coach Tuomas Iisalo will presumably lead the way for the rest of the regular season and into the postseason, although things didn't get off to an ideal start during the loss to the Lakers in the team's first game since firing Jenkins.

Moran't comments come after Sam Amick, Fred Katz and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported Saturday that the guard "complained" that Jenkins' system took "the ball out of his hands and removes the screens he likes to use as a ball handler to make plays."

NBA insider Marc Stein added that, "There have certainly been rumbles circulating that Morant wants Memphis running way more pick-and-roll than it does and that he does not vibe with the Grizzlies' new motion-based offense … but those schemes were not conceived by Jenkins. They were schematic alterations mandated by the front office."

Jenkins and Morant started together with the Grizzlies, as the team hired the coach prior to the 2019-20 campaign and selected the franchise cornerstone with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2019 draft.

Memphis has made the playoffs three times since, although it won just one playoff series during that run. Things also started to trend in the wrong direction this season prior to the firing, as it was 2-5 in the previous seven games before deciding to move on from Jenkins.

The Grizzlies are now in the fifth seed in the West and one game behind the Lakers in the race for home-court advantage. Yet they are also just 1.5 games clear of the cut line for the play-in tournament, which could become a problem if they continue to play poorly.

It will be up to Morant to turn things around with new leadership on the sidelines.